Ultrakill

''Ultrakill'' (stylized in all caps as ULTRAKILL) is a first-person shooter platformer video game developed by Arsi "Hakita" Patala and published by New Blood Interactive. It was released through Early Access on Steam for Microsoft Windows on September 3, 2020. The game uses retro-style graphics and movement capabilities similar to those of 1990s first-person shooters such as '' Quake'' and ''Doom''.

Plot

In Ultrakill, the player controls V1, a machine that uses blood as a fuel source. Humanity fought a major war, and V1 was built for this purpose. However, the war ended before V1 could enter mass production, meaning only one model of it remained in existence. But V1's thirst for blood led it, along with other similar robots, to turn on the humans, driving them to extinction.

After the extinction of humanity, V1 descends through the layers of Hell in order to harvest the blood of the various creatures in hell. Along the way V1 encounters demons, the souls of the damned, rival machines also looking for blood, and angels. V1 also fights a multitude of bosses, including V2, which is a later, alternate version of V1; King Minos, the former king of Lust who tried to turn it into a utopia and thus incited the anger of the Council, causing his defeat at the hands of Gabriel (with his mortal body still remaining in Lust, but his Soul trapped in a flesh prison as Minos Prime, who V1 also fights); and Gabriel (named for the Abrahamic archangel), an angel who acts as the Judge of Hell. In their first encounter, V1 is able to defeat Gabriel and force him to retreat. In Heaven, the Council of Angels who rule Heaven accuse Gabriel of heresy for losing to a machine and extract God's Light from his body, leaving him with only 24 hours to destroy V1 or else he will die.

In Act 2, V1 continues to delve deeper into Hell, battling other denizens of Hell such as Sisyphus' minions, the Ferryman, and a massive leviathan, as well as a final rematch against V2, killing V2 in the process. Finally, V1 confronts Gabriel again, now the Apostate of Hate, who reveals that thanks to V1's incursion into Hell, its robotic brethren have followed it and completely destroyed all of the upper layers of Hell in their need to power themselves. Gabriel and V1 engage in their second battle, with Gabriel once again being defeated. However, V1's skills manage to earn Gabriel's respect and he retreats. His worldview now challenged, Gabriel comes to realize that he cannot overcome the machines because the power of the Angels has waned due to the disappearance of God. Recognizing that the Council has been hiding God's disappearance yet is still content to rule Heaven and Hell in His name, Gabriel returns to Heaven and murders the entire Council to end their corrupt regime.

Gameplay

''Ultrakill'' is a first-person shooter which takes place in a series of levels based on Dante's layers of Hell. The game is divided into a prelude and three acts, with the prelude containing one area (called a layer) with four levels and a major boss level, each proceeding act containing three layers with the first two having three levels and one major boss level, and the third having only one level and a major boss level.

The player has access to 6 classes of weapons: the revolver, the shotgun, the nailgun, the railcannon, the rocket launcher and the arm, with each weapon receiving multiple variants. The player can perform combos or do other stylish actions in order to build a style meter through eight ranks from ''Destructive'' to ''ULTRAKILL'' and earn style points, similar to games such as ''Devil May Cry''.

A key game mechanic in ''Ultrakill'' is the ability for the player to gain health by absorbing the fresh blood of damaged enemies, done by damaging or killing enemies while near them. However, certain other mechanics can prevent or disrupt this, such as enemies covered in sand not dropping blood for the player to absorb, or water diluting blood when an enemy is killed underwater, making said blood easier to pick up, but reduces the amount healed.

At the end of each level the player will earn a letter grade rank from ''D'' to ''S'' in time, enemies killed, and total style points, which are then averaged to give an overall level rank. Completing a level without dying or reloading to a checkpoint, and with an ''S'' rank in all 3 categories, will award the player with a ''P'' (for perfect) rank. This is the highest possible rank that can be achieved.

Each level of ''Ultrakill'' contains hidden collectibles in the form of soul orbs and includes a challenge. Completing the challenge, finding all soul orbs, and getting the highest rank (P), will reward the player by making the level appear gold in the level select menu.

Getting a ''P'' rank on every level within an act and locating a secret entrance will allow the player to enter the act's Prime Sanctum. Prime Sanctums contain one or more bosses that are a drastic step up in difficulty compared to the other levels within the act.

''Ultrakill'' also features an endless mode called the "Cyber Grind", where the player fights random waves of enemies over a floating arena which transforms after each wave. This mode awards the player with points upon completion, which can be used to purchase weapon mods at yellow terminals.

Reception

, ''Ultrakill'' had received over 35,000 Steam reviews, with a score of 98%, making it the 11th highest-rated game on Steam. The game was praised for its movement mechanics and authenticity towards earlier arena shooters and first-person shooters.
(On January 12, 2023, the position of it was moved from the 11th highest-rated on Steam to the 10th highest-rated, though on the 13th of January it moved back to its original place; this also meant that ''Ultrakill'' was placed above ''Left 4 Dead 2''.)
Christopher Livingston of ''PC Gamer'' described ''Ultrakill'' as faster and "even more metal than ''Doom Eternal''" and commended the game for its verticality.

References

{{New Blood Interactive

Angels in popular culture
Early access video games
First-person shooters
Hell in popular culture
Linux games
New Blood Interactive games
Platform games
Indie video games
Retro-style video games
Single-player video games
Upcoming video games
Video games about demons
Video games about robots
Video games developed in Finland
Video games set in hell
Windows games